Worthless?
by ZevofB3K
Summary: Everyone does a story about Kai comming back after Yo Way Yo, but does anyone consider that it'd be a catastrophe for him? FINISHED
1. Ressurrection

Disclaimer: Nah, don't own 'em, except for Hofryn and Aud. Tell me, when you're finished, should I continue?

The general stood at her side as the prepped the machine. It had taken months, but military funding to this particular base had finally paid off, since the single cell found after the asteroid incident was finally whole again. The cell had been damaged to the point where the Phoenix's censors barely picked up on it, and when examined closer, it was human, but it seemed to have been infused with machine. Even someone as skilled as Dr. Hofryn had no clue as to what would happen, and she had migraines over it, but since General Aud worked for the ATF, she had no choice but to recover it and start rebuilding immediately

Dr. Hofryn nodded, and flipped the switch. The man's eyes immediately popped open, and he gasped for air, his re-created body adjusting to its surroundings. He writhed around a while, from his position on his back, struggling to regulate his breathing, and pounded on the glass. Hofryn flipped a switch and a speaker inside the box was activated. His screams of intense pain gradually died away, and then he blinked a few times.

He rolled to one side, got up on his knees, and slowly reached out to find that he was underneath glass. He tried to stand and bumped his head, then pounded on the glass. "Let me out!" he said.

He fearfully said something incoherently, and then spoke some more in an understandable tone. "Who are you?! How did I get here?! Let me out!"

Aud chuckled and went into the room where the machine was. He looked over the subject, but didn't make any move to released him. The newly rebuilt being looked right back at him, obviously terrified, but wasn't going to show anyone. "Heh, you really are a psycho, aren'tcha!?"

The man glared at Aud, and tilted his head. The next thing Aud knew, the man had his right arm raised, and a strange scorpion-like weapon attached to the ragged remains of a sleeve broke through the glass, grabbed him by the throat, and the man pulled on the cord to the weapon, and slammed Aud's head against the machine, making a bigger crack in the glass. The weapon released the general, but as the subject retracted the weapon, the glass shattered, and he cautiously slid off the machine. To Hofryn's horror, she then could see that the weapon wasn't attached to the remains of clothing; it was built right into his skin and muscles.

Two of the guards rushed at him, but he caught the smaller one in the cord of his weapon, and said, "If you come near me, he will die,"

Hofryn went to sound the alarm, but the man stepped down off the machine, and retracted the weapon after the guard passed out. "...Where Xev Bellringer and Stanley Tweedle?" he said finally.

It may have taken maybe five minutes of convincing, and three minutes of shooting with tranquilizers, but the dangeorus subject had been effectively silenced. He'd awakened about two hours later, dressed in some sort of containment suit that looked like normal longsleeved black shirt and pants, but the buckles all over it fastened him to the chair. His hair had been tied back for the occasion, and Hofryn leaned closer to have a look at the mark on the side of his face. "What's this?" she asked.

"A mark of my heritage," he said coldly.

"Do you have a name?" said Hofryn.

"I am Kai, Last of the Brunnen-G," he said simply.

Hofryn chuckled. "All right," she said. "As I can see, you follow the traditions of the Brunnen G as well. Are you aware that they were destroyed some time ago by His Divine Shadow?"

Kai had been singing his people's battle chant under his breath, not really interested in any of the so-called doctor's mockery. "Vaguely aware," he said sarcastically. " Considering I was the last of my people to die,"

Hofryn laughed hard this time. "Oh yeah? Then where have you been for the past six-thousand years?"

"I was an assassin, enslaved by His Shadow. I have killed mothers with their babies, proud young warriors and great philosophers. I have killed the evil, the good, the innocent, the weak, and the beautiful. I have done this all under the order of His Divine Shadow and his Predecessors," Kai said dully.

Hofryn immediately stifled herself. In her eyes, he could after all be very ill, if he really had killed people. Now that she looked closer at him, his eyes were ascetic to just about everything around him, despite the large gashes that he had from the neck down from his rejuvenation pod escape. It also didn't help that he spoke to her about killing as if it were something like eating lunch. "So if you were dead, how did you do all of that?" she asked.

"Protoblood kept me alive outside of cryostasis," Kai said truthfully. "I regained my own memories from a Divine Predecessor, along with the memories of all those he killed. I possess more information than I deem necessary,"

"What's protoblood?" said Hofryn, circling around him.

Kai glared at her and then looked away, focusing his vision on the wall once again, giving a struggle again to see if he could free himself. "I will not answer anything further. I do not care to live again, and as I can tell, you do not believe me,"

"Who are Xev Bellringer and Stanley Tweedle? Are they your friends?" said Hofryn, glancing over her recorded information.

"As I have said, it would be useless to tell you more," Kai said matter-of-factly. "The dead do not explain more than they need to. The dead are simply dead,"

"But what about this," said Hofryn. "How is it that you know who you are? Most rejuvenated victims take months to even remember the last few seconds before they died. You seem to remember everything,"

"I do not know," said Kai, now fixing his cold eyes on her. "I suspect that I will be destoyed on account of not cooperating? I request that you cease wasting time and get on with my euthanization,"

Hofryn glared and exited the room to find General Aud waiting for her. He had bandages wrapped around his neck, since Kai's weapon had nicked the sides of his neck, and didn't look pleased in the least. "How is he?" he said.

"Physically, just as strong as you or me," said Hofryn. "Mentally, on the other hand, well, that's an entirely different subject. He refuses to comply when questioned for the most part. Can you believe he thinks that he's the last of the Brunnen G race?"

"So he's crazy?" said Aud.

"Probably," said Hofryn. "Although he remembers everything, as outlandish as he sounds. He's not a zombie or a clone like our other subjects. He's the same person he was except that his body's brand new. We await your orders on what to do with him, General,"

"Terminate him," said Aud, turning his back on her.

"You can't be serious!" said Hofryn. "Specimens like him are rare, his neural net is-"

"I don't care," said Aud. "He refuses to comply, he isn't of any use. Destroy him before he becomes a danger to you and your colleagues,"


	2. You're Not Gonna Believe It

Author Note: If you're wondering why Xev's all Buffy-ish and fighting now, this is a few months after the events in Yo Way Yo. She's broody about Kai being gone, and feels that it's up to her to fight now, so she's putting her love slave programming aside, and bringing her cluster lizard side into play. Stan's still pretty much a wuss, but remember that he feels that he has to protect Xev now that he believes Kai is still dead.

Even though emotions were slowly coming back to him one at a time, aggravation was certainly one Kai was aware of at the moment. Dr. Hofryn had agreed to send him to the termination ward, but this new way of holding prisoners in place was ridiculous. First they insisted on shooting him with more tranquilizers to transfer him, so he had no idea what had happened between his interrogation and the present time. The containment suit, now that he had a better look at it, was indeed a long-sleeved black shirt and loose pants, but with circulation-stopping belts along his arms, legs, chest, down to his boots attached to it held it to either the interrogation bench, or the slab of steel holding him from the ceiling. He could feel his brace underneath, and that they hadn't removed the blade, but for some reason not matter how much he squeezed the muscles needed for it to function, it wouldn't budge. He supposed he should be used to it, since the Divine Order's way hadn't been that different, but since he was going to be alive for the next few days, it could have at least allowed him to let his blood circulate! The room itself wasn't unlike the Cluster's various torture rooms. It was about the same size as a jail cell, except that when the time came, thousands of needles would come out of tiny cavities in the walls and inject him with certain death. He was torn for the most part with escaping to maybe try and find Xev and Stan (even though he didn't have the first clue on where to look), or just letting Hofryn and her mindless colleages kill him...he hadn't decided yet on whether or not being one of the living was something he wanted to do again.

He stopped struggling against the straps, as the door to his cell slid open, and the person that walked in was someone Kai knew would only cause him more aggravation. Now Kai had certainly made up his mind. He had to get out of this place. "Hello Kai," said Prince. "It's been quite awhile, three months I dare say,"

Kai said nothing. "Ah, well, I suppose they've told you," said Prince. "The president's signature was needed to revive you, so that left us no choice but to come here,"

Prince circled around Kai, gloating over the fact that someone who'd humiliated him repeatedly, was stuck in a euthanization lab. "Well, Kai," said Prince. "Look where you've landed yourself. Such a shame, too...I'd help you, but you abused what I gave you,"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Had I not, you would all be dead," he said.

"Ah," said Prince, raising a finger, his cocky grin widening. "But you forgot one thing. Death is never the end...for me, anyway,"

Despite his intact assassin's programming, Kai was starting to feel an odd desire to hit something. Prince's overly confident smile, and his proposition coming shortly after, was making Kai want to speed things up so Prince would just leave. "I am not interested in any deals, Prince," he said. "I do not need your assistance,"

"Of course," said Prince, putting a hand on Kai's shoulder. "But how do you suppose that you will escape? You'd need exceptional strength to do so. True, you did possess that ability in death, but now, what makes you so sure? Most of your physical programming has been over-written; with all but one of your mechanical implants gone and all these new emotions gradually welling up inside you. Nearly everything about you is entirely human, regardless of how you try to deny it. You'll tire before you make it out of here if you do escape this room. They'll catch you, possibly kill you-"

"The dead do not fear death," Kai snapped, glaring into Prince's eyes.

Prince continued on, his expression projecting slight perturbance at being interrupted. "And you still refer to yourself as dead, yet you've already seen your own blood when the glass cut you. It was just as real as anything around you," he said, his voice lowering to a whisper as he came around Kai and looked at him over his shoulder. "It makes you feel weak, Kai...worthless. You feel as if that in this state you do not matter anymore...I could give it back Kai, what made you you. I can restore you to your old functions, no emotions, and no weaknesses. All you need to do is find something for me once you reunite with Stan and Xev...a box, nothing more,"

"No," said Kai.

Prince's eyes reflected nothing less than pure hatred as he came around into Kai's view again. Then he recomposed himself, and smiled. "You won't?" he asked. "Maybe I can persuade you...you don't remember this. But you will now,"

He suddenly took hold of Kai's forehead, and images flashed in front of Kai's eyes. He was in a dark room, surrounded by shapeless bioviziers and clerics. He was strapped to a table, struggling to move, and trying to speak, but his voice just wouldn't work. There were unfamilliar metal components and machines grafted into his body, but they didn't hurt for some reason. He couldn't remember who he was, or what he'd been doing before that moment, but he knew that he wanted to kill. He could hear the bioviziers speaking, and their words were even more unfamilliar. "Yes. He'll do very well. Shall we modify him further?"

"What do you mean?" said a cold, deep voice.

"Make him seem less like a Brunnen-G," said the cleric.

"No," the cold voice said adamantly. "Leave it as it is. He will not remember,"

The images faded, and Prince let go. Kai suddenly remembered that those were the exact moments that the bioviziers had awoken him after modifying him into an assassin. The voices he'd heard had been those of Mantrid, Brizon, and the Divine Shadow who'd taken his life away. Prince sighed in satisfaction as Kai found it hard to breathe again. "You thought you woudn't remember that," he said. "Xev didn't think she'd remember her past either...but I'm good with many things, not just pain,"

Kai looked away, unfamiliar disgust building up inside him. "Prince," he said. "...Get bent,"

Prince gave Kai a hurt look. "Shame," he said, exiting the room.

Kai rolled his eyes again, forcing himself to get over the shock of what he'd just seen. He started yanking on the straps again, harder this time. "That settles everything," he thought. "I'm leaving,"

As the insectoid body hit the ground with a thud, and a nice gash in the abdomen, Xev wiped the sweat off her forehead, and stabbed the sword into the ground. There was no hope left for that poor person. He had died when the insect had infected him, and was just a zombie now. The problem was getting worse. People from all parts of the universe were slowly changing, as body parts mutated into insect parts, and the desire for chaos grew. It was hopeless, of course it was. She was no hero. Now that she looked back on it, all she'd been was some stupid girl more concerned about her own needs than about what was really going on. That last kiss had changed her way of thinking for sure. One, was that she had to wise up and learn to defend herself. Here she was, part cluster lizard, and all she'd cared about was twenty minutes of pleasure. Two, was that the only person who would have really mattered in a situation such as the ones she used to so frequently fantasize about was gone.

Stan tried to make her feel better for the first few days. He'd been so sweet to her, and supported her in every decision she made, even when it came to buying a weapon. She looked down at the sword. It was primative, sure, not at all as accurate as a brace, but with her strength, technology wasn't the issue. She never thought she could injure anyone, but the first time someone tried to rape her, that changed her perspective. Killing was something she swore she'd never do. Kai had at least taught her that much. Even in death, she knew he was lying when he said he didn't care about his victims. Her squawker gave a crackling noise, startling her out of her thoughts, and Stan's voice echoed shrilly out of it. "Xev!" he screamed. "Xev, answer in, you're not gonna believe this!"

She wiped the insect slime off her hands by using her skirt (she could always wash it later), and yanked the squawker off her belt. "Stan, what?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"Bunny just keyed into our frequency. Xev, Kai's alive,"


	3. Not the Only One

Bunny sat on a cold bench in the lab's main control room, bored, and quite offended. Her Reggie was missing, probably off somewhere being manipulated by Prince or General Aud, and Prince was torturing poor Kai. She knew well enough that she wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but she understood enough that they'd put that man through enough. Her man wasn't at all acting like himself either, ever since the asteroid incident, he'd been paying less and less attention to her, and she didn't like being ignored.

Dr. Hofryn wasn't much help either. She was brilliant, but she was so brilliant, everyone in the building barely ever understood what she was talking about. Bunny passed the endless time the first few days exploring, and the last few asking around about the controls. Since Prince was the reason she was feeling so alone, and she was so used to him, she couldn't be afraid anymore, she was going to get back at him, and get her man back for good. She'd figured out where the cell controls were thanks to some flirting with a few of the guards, and even wrote down the number of Kai's cell, so when the time came to flip the switch, the bindings on his right arm would give way. Then she learned how to work the machine that sent messages on any frequency. She didn't want to take her chances with a possibly crazy Kai running around free; it would be better for him to learn how to be human again with people he was comfortable with. That time to do her deed was now. She stood up as soon as she saw the guard leave his post for the day, and slunk toward the room.

She had made it to the the sliding doors, but before she could step through them, she jumped backward as an arm came over her shoulder, holding her from going through the door. She whirled around to be face to face with Prince, whose eyes were blazing with anger. "What are you doing, Bunny?" he asked quietly.

"Oh-uh...just going to the bathroom," she stammered.

"Then why are you acting so suspicious?" said Prince. "Especially when the bathroom is not in this corridor,"

"I-It isn't?" she said.

"No," said Prince. "You wouldn't be trying to open Kai's cell, would you?"

"What makes you think that?" she squeaked.

Prince held up a small slip of paper, and she gasped. It was the number to Kai's cell. "I found this recently," he said. "Now why would you want to betray me? You are aware of what happens to those who do,"

Bunny thought quickly, realizing that she could get out of this. "Prince, I'm really sorry about this!" she said, slamming him in the groin with her knee.

Prince immediately curled up, grunting in pain as his hands went to the injured area and his eyes bulged. She then slammed him as hard as she could in the back of his neck while it was exposed, and he fell face forward onto the cold linoleum floor. "I hope you don't hate me tomorrow," she said, as she slipped into the control room.

"Xev!" Stan whined. "What are you doing?!"

Xev finished clipping her hair to the back of her head, and cleaned the slime off her sword. She'd changed into a pair of slacks and a jacket since she'd returned, knowing that this sort of manuever wouldn't be easy in a skirt. "I'm going down to that planet. It shouldn't be too far in a moth," she said. "You can come, if you like,"

"Aw, Xev listen to me, that was Bunny we were talking to! The same Bunny who works with Prince, and the same Bunny who doesn't know if she's coming or going,"

"So?" said Xev, pushing past him, shealthing her weapon.

"Do you hear what I'm saying?!" said Stan. "Does the name Prince convince you at all?"

"Convince me of what, exactly?" she asked, walking out onto the bridge.

Stan caught her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Xev, think about what she told me," he said. "Do you really believe that Kai is alive again?"

"Well, you seemed to, since you called me all the way back up here," she said with a shrug.

"Look, I was just surprised, but if you think about it, the chances are nil! I'm sorry, Xev, but he's gone. We all saw what happened to him,"

Xev pulled away, crossing the bridge to a moth and throwing her weapon inside. "But what if it really is true, Stan? We can't just leave him,"

"So what if it is?!" said Stan. "He might not remember us, or he might not want us to find him! He'll be fine on his own!"

Xev glared at him, stopping in mid-climb. "I can't believe you'd do something like that to someone who saved your life," she said coldly.

"Do what?!" he said. "He can't be alive, he was reduced to a particle the size of a pea!"

"Well I'm going whether you like it or not," said Xev. "I'm not giving up on Kai just yet,"

Stan frowned, the thoughts in his head winding around themselves, and climbed into the moth next to her as she started it up. She smiled as he shut the hatch. "I knew you'd come," she said.

Kai suddenly felt the pressure on his right arm loosen somewhat, just enough for him to release his brace and slit the straps suspending his right arm from the slab. He effortlessly ripped the straps holding his clothing down, somewhat relieved that not all of his strength was overwritten. He couldn't understand why, since much of him still longed for death, but he didn't want to die here. If he was going to die again, it would have to be a warrior's death.

After unbuckling his legs from the restraining slab, he ripped a bigger hole in his sleeve where his brace was, so it wouldn't be obstructed. He looked around the room, and saw that there had been a camera observing his actions at every minute. He looked up, knowing that he hadn't been released for good behavior. "Thank you," he said, then proceeded to destroy it with his brace.

He looked at the sliding, steel doors in front of him, and looked over them, knocking on certain spots quietly. Finding the weak spot in the crack between them, he fired his brace again, and forced them apart with a few shots. He had to make it quick before the doors slid shut again, and crush him, but he managed to get through, and surprised to find that no one was waiting outside the corridor for him.

Instead, he found several dismembered ATF bodies, covered in green slime! Next to the bodies and pools of human blood, were small, insect-like creatures shot to pieces by the ATF. Alarms were sounding, but everyone who was living seemed too busy in running for their lives to notice an escaped prisoner. He thought a moment, tilting his head to the side out of habit, and went in the direction people were fleeing from, priming his weapon.

He didn't have to go very far on the other hand, as one of the mysterious creatures jumped at his throat. Dispatching the first creature easily, he had to dodge two more. He landed in a pool of slime, which didn't exactly hurt, but sort of burned the skin, and didn't have more time to think as one latched itself to his arm. Before he could kill it, it sank its tiny, pinprick-like teeth into him. He ripped it off, not prepared for the pain that came along with it, and found that the second insect was already heading for him. He broke his assailant in two, and rolled to the side as the other insect, suddenly bigger than he remembered, stuck a sort of stinger out, and was trying to skewer him on it.

He rolled to his left, shielding himself with the corpse of an ATF soldier, finding that the stinger reduced flesh to nothing in seconds. Firing his brace at the creatures head, it leapt onto the wall, and landed on top of him this time, but before it had the chance to stab him, it suddenly screeched in pain, and twitched. It's central nerve system had been pierced. Pushing it off him, Kai saw what had done the damage, and didn't notice the relief washing over him. Xev smiled back at him, almost innocently as she yanked a sword out of her prey. "I hate these things," she said.

Kai wasted no time in standing, and asking the obvious. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure exactly," said Xev, dragging him along behind her. "But everywhere me and Stan go, they seem to follow us. Come on, there's no hope left for this place,"

"So you brought them with you?" he asked.

"If you want to put it that way," said Xev.

Kai killed an oncomming insect as it scuttled overhead, and followed her down another corridor. "How did you find me?" he asked.

"Bunny," said Xev, as she killed another creature. "Don't worry, I saw to it that she and Priest, and Prince sadly made it out all right,"

"And what of Stanley?"

"He's waiting for us underneath this annex," said Xev. "I had to break in, and Stan wouldn't have any part in it,"

They would have headed straight for an exit of any kind, but a woman's screaming stopped them. Kai motioned for Xev to keep watch for any guards or insects, and headed in the scream's direction. He still knew the difference between good and evil, and knew that it would be a bad choice to leave her.

He ran, following the source of the sound, and saw into another cell like his own, that the guards were trying to strap a tall blonde woman into the confinement slab. "Come on, honey," said one of the guards. "We only got five minutes to live, so what's the harm in a little-"

She was struggling so much he couldn't see her face through all the hair, but she was strong. She raised one fist, sending the would-be rapist in Kai's direction, which he quickly dispatched with his brace. The other guard knocked the woman to the ground with a backhanded fist, and tried to grab Kai's arm, but it was all too easy for Kai to twist the guard's arm around, and slash the other man's throat. "Two more lives," he thought. "I suppose it'll never stop,"

He quickly crossed the room, and cautiously touched the woman's shoulder as she nursed her sore cheekbone, softly crying. "You should have let them kill me," she said curtly.

Her sobs sounded more angry than sorrowful, and he didn't understand the feeling of pity welling up inside him as he knelt down to touch her shoulder. Instead of looking up, she jerked away from him, yelling "Touch me and die! I don't need saving!"

He knew that voice, and couldn't believe it was true. She had been destroyed even before he had. "Vlad?" he asked warilly.

Even though her hair was down, and thankfully she was de-fanged, Vlad turned around with pure hatred and malice in her eyes. He stood, and looked her over closely. She looked much smaller without her wings and triangular hairstyle. Unlike him, her weapon was gone, and the snake in her chest was also missing, since he could see no Divine Order symbol anywhere on her. "You are human," he said.

"As are you!" she spat distastefully. "There would be no pleasure in killing you now,"

"Yes," he agreed. "Whatever has been done to us is unexplainable, but it's only a matter of time before they find that we have escaped. Come,"

"I don't take orders from Divine Assassins," said Vlad, still in her collapsed, weakened position on the floor. "Leave me,"

Kai looked away from her, thought about the situation, and then quietly yanked her up by the arm, and dragged her behind him. She may have been his enemy, and she may have nearly killed him on two occassions, but he still felt an odd kinship to her. She was in the same situation as he was, and like him, was starting to see how inconveinient being human really was, except he thought she was worse off, since her brace hadn't been rebuilt along with her body. The question in his head however, was why would they ressurect her, too? Wasn't she useless without her Parablood? Kai didn't understand or care, but he wasn't going to leave her to die.

She struggled, trying to wrench out of his grip, trying to kick and punch him as he caught her around the waist, pinning her arms to her sides. Like his own, her physical strength wasn't nearly what it used to be, but his was apparantly better than hers for a change. Xev's eyes widened, and she turned away from her hiding place as she helped him by grabbing one of Vlad's arms, so they could drag her between them. "How is she-"

"I do not know," said Kai, dodging a sudden outburst of flailing legs. "But she will die here if we leave her,"

"Understood," said Xev. "We can take her back up to the-"

"I wish to die!" Vlad screamed. "Leave me here! I do not wish to be such a pathetic-"

Kai ignored her, desperately hoping that she wasn't going to draw attention to any nearby insects. "Vlad, if you insist on having a tantrum, the dead will not complain. However, you must wait, for if we stay here any longer, this annex will be filled with insects," said Kai, as he and Xev dragged her.

"I worship His Divine Shadow!" said Vlad. "I do not fear any living insect,"

Xev snarled in her deep, angry cluster lizard way. "You will if they're ripping you to pieces!" she screamed, slamming the ex-Divine Executioner on the back of the neck with her fist.

Vlad's eyes rolled up in the back of her head, and she suddenly went limp. Kai easilly picked her up in her unconcious state, and looked at Xev, who was smiling that sweet, innocent smile yet again. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem," Xev said brightly.

Killing a few more insects, Xev sheathed her sword as they came to the exit, where Genreal Aud and Dr. Hofryn lay dead, and keyed in the code for it to open. "Where did you learn that?" he asked.

"...You've missed a lot," she said sweetly. "Now come on, we have to make it to the moth,"

"A moth?" said Kai. "But the Lexx was destroyed,"

"We have a new one," said Xev, taking off at a run. "Stop fooling around!"

He followed after her, curious about the fact that he still took her orders as if he were just as dead as he was when he met her. He began to wonder about whether or not his body was alive, while his mind remained dead, or if that this life was temporary. Hadn't Prince told him that the cell he was regrown from had been damaged? Trying to focus on something other than Vlad's dead weight, which would have been nothing at a time, he thought suddenly about Xev. Watching as she ran ahead of him, killing the oncomming insects and injuring the guards on the base since he had to protect Vlad, he could see that he barely knew her anymore. Maybe Stanley was the same way...Kai knew that he never really belonged with the living, and this was just starting to eat away at him now. He felt he'd just been gone for so long, why should he want to be among the living at all anymore? None of it had made sense for as long as he'd remembered who he was, and now, he was simply more confused than before.

Xev yanking him down an alley between two labs shook him of all doubts, as she jumped down a small hole in the ground. She looked up at him, gesturing for him to lower Vlad down to her. He complied, trying not to drop the limp woman, or slam her head in a certain way that might end her life. He'd once told Vlad that she deserved to suffer, and he still believed she did. Only now she deserved to suffer living a mortal life, since she wanted death so much. As Xev caught Vlad, he jumped down the hole as well, landing easily as ever. He'd had way too much time to perfect something so simple.

Looking around, he could see she'd lead him into an underground tunnel of some sort, and right next to them was a moth, with Stan pacing agitatedly around it.

The security guard immediately did a double-take as Xev loaded their former enemy into the back of the moth, and then looked at Kai with pure terror. "Xev!" he said. "What are you doing?! How'd she come back?! And what about-"

"Stan," Xev said quietly, hopping into the pilot seat. "It's okay...it's really Kai,"

"How do you know that?!" said Stan. "Vlad is with him!"

Kai came closer. "She is not with me. Had I not rescued her, she would have been killed.

Xev rolled her eyes. "Come on!" she said.

Kai continued past, and hopped into the moth, squeezing in the back with Vlad, and Stan wasn't so convinced. "So we're just keeping him?!" he said, running after him (he didn't want to be left behind, after all) "He could be Prince, or someone else who wants to kill us!"

"I will explain everything, but if you still do not believe me, then you may kill me yourself, Stan," said Kai.


	4. Am I This Pathetic?

Xev landed the moth on the bridge and climbed out. "Welcome home, Kai," she said brightly, hopping out.

Stan looked in the back as Kai pulled himself out. "What about her?" he asked, geturing to Vlad.

"Leave her," said Kai. "I believe we should allow her to leave if she so desires it. She is of no threat to us anymore,"

Stan shrugged and headed after the ex-assassin, who was looking hesitantly around the bridge.

"Well?" said Xev, standing next to him. "What's wrong?"

"It looks the same," said Kai. "How was this possible?"

"Long story, dead man," said Stan, heading down the passageway to the galley. "I dunno about you two, but when you're ready, let's eat and get outta here before Vlad the Imapaler wakes up,"

"Speaking of looking the same," said Xev, brushing a strand of hair off his face. "You look the same as you did when we last saw you. Why?"

"I do not know," said Kai.

"So...are you really alive?" she asked hopefully. "All of you?"

"Yes, I believe so," Kai said hesitantly.

"Great!" said Xev, trying her best to remain platonically friendly.

Kai on the other hand, knew what she was getting at. "The cell was damaged Xev," he said. "I do not know how long this will last,"

"Oh," she said dejectedly. "In that case, come on, let's go into the galley. Vlad probably wants to be alone anyway,"

Kai nodded, and headed in the direction Stan went, but Xev caught him. Taken by surprise, he found himself stiffly placing his arms around her waist as she hugged him. She smiled, feeling that there was nothing mechanical pressing into her "What?" he asked.

"Wow...you really are alive," she said.

It was entirely inadvertant to him that he was actually enjoying this, but now that all the adrenaline had gone, he was feeling all the weaknesses of fatigue for the first time in a long time. "Xev...I do not think I will be eating with you and Stan, I just wish to sleep if it's all right,"

Xev smiled. Even though the Lexx had been his home for at least four years (not counting all the time all three of them had spent in cryosleep), he still acted as if he wasn't welcome. "Of course!" she said, touching his hand affectionately. "This is your home too, you know. There's an empty room next to mine, unless you'd like to stay with me,"

"No, I'll be fine on my own, thank you," said Kai. "It isn't that I do not appreciate it, it, but I suspect that it is not a good idea,"

Xev looked a little disappointed, but she quickly brightened again as he tried to explain that he wasn't quite used to everything yet. "That's okay," she said. "You're probably right,"

He thought a while and noticed he was still covered in his own blood from reopened wounds and the blood of the mutanted insect people. He walked off in search of the shower, pulling away from a dissapointed Xev, and then stopped. "Xev?" he asked quietly.

Xev looked back, as if she were expecting a question. "I believe I have forgotten where the showers are," he said.

She smiled, and grabbed his hand. "Well I haven't!" she said brightly. "I should have guessed you'd want to wash all the insect slime off,"

She dragged him in the opposite direction, and didn't understand why this irritated him. He wasn't sure if he should tell her that he was capable of following her on his own, but at this point, it didn't seem to matter much. Something felt as if it were pulling at him in his mind, and it felt like the darkest place he'd ever been.

Xev stopped at the showers, and looked to him expectantly. "Do you...want me to stay?" she asked.

"No...thank-you," said Kai. "I will...call you if I need you,"

At this point, it was still beyond him as to why she wanted so badly to stay with him. Then the idea hit him as he tried to remember how to work the mechanism that supplied the water. "Of course," he thought. "Habits _do_ die hard,"

He waited until Xev left and adjusted the water in the shower room to tolerable levels. It wasn't so much that the hospital left a filthy feeling on one's being (even though it did), or that he was covered in blood, it was just that something was harassing him, and he knew he had to hide it from Xev.

He undressed and stood under the water, and let it run down his face, and over the cuts from all the glass and insect bites, wondering why it was so hard to breathe correctly as the water ran over his face in sheets. It wasn't so painful as it had been when he'd first awakened, but it was a different sort of pain. He felt as if he didn't want to be. The eternal cold feeling in his body was still there, and he couldn't help think that he may have come back wrong. Why was he feeling so regretful at being resurrected? Didn't he want to live?

"No," his mind concluded. "I don't belong here,"

He looked down at the cuts from the glass, and saw that a particularly large one over his left shoulder blade had reopened, probably from Vlad's struggling to get away, and blood was now trickling down the drain along with the water. Pain was a new feeling too, and his body was hating him at the moment. A sudden wave of newly-found hatred hit him, mixed with the regret of not being decarbonized anymore, along with disgustion for his body's weakness. As he punched at the wall with his fist, and a yelp of "Ouch!" from the Lexx, he could see that Prince had been right.

She knew that Kai wouldn't be very pleased with her spying on him, or that Stan would never let her live it down if he were to catch her, but Xev's love slave programming wasn't always well-behaved, and now she was cursing herself for doing so. However, she was _very _pleased to see that the only part of his body that was deformed by anything mechanical was his brace arm. Seeing gashes all over his body on the other hand did little to comfort her, especially the large opening in his shoulder that had started bleeding again.

He hadn't said anything to either her or Stan, since he was, after all, Kai, and no matter how many times he could say "The dead do not feel pain", it was very obvious that he did. He winced a little as the water seeped into the wounds, and lightly ran his finger across one cut on his arm. She shook herself. She should be used to seeing this now. It wasn't as if he'd just close back up anymore, and he would get hurt just like she would if he had to defend himself. Now Xev knew better; every planet they landed on, a fight always broke out.

He wrung his hair out, and turned to hear Xev's boots echoing on the floor of the passage. Quickly, before she could see, he ripped the remaining piece of his right sleeve off, and stuffed it down the back of his shirt, to hide the bleeding, knowing that Xev would make a bigger deal out of it. "Hey," she said. "Come on, I'll show you where your room is. If I don't you'll get lost,"

He barely had time to pull his shirt down, before she grabbed his arm and yanked him down the passageway after her. He accepted her reason for this, even though he could easily find it himself, since this new Lexx was identical to the old Lexx. She allowed no room for protest of course, and Kai was in the most honest sense, too tired to care. "Here," she said. "It's not much, but I'll bet it's better than a cryopod,"

Kai looked around the dark room, and nodded. "Thank-you," he said.

She seemed to understand this time, and left him to himself.

Exhausted, he flopped down on the bed, and chuckled. It was interesting to feel exhausted again and yet at the same time, rather inconvenienced. This would have never happened before. The dead do not tire was something he kept telling himself, but His Shadow's programming wasn't enough to convince his now human body.

He stared up at the ceiling, realizing how much his new room reminded him of the cryochamber. It was much darker than Xev's or Stan's, with darker fleshy walls, and even the bed was a shade of black or blue; he couldn't tell. He was lying in the middle of the small chamber, and like the walls on the bridge, there were bulbous growths on the walls, but there were breaks, where the cloth-like fleshy barriers separated him from Xev's and Stan's quarters.

In an attempt to keep himself awake, he drew up his right arm from his side, and looked over the inside of it, seeing the grafted brace still intact. It was interesting how the machine copied the weapon perfectly, but as for every other mechanical implant that he'd become accustomed to, was gone. He guessed it had something to do with being rebuilt only from a cell from that arm, which had somehow survived the explosion. No matter how hard he could try, he'd never really stop being a product of His Shadow, he supposed. Not with that weapon, at least.

About an hour later, Kai's eyes popped open, and he sat up with a start. It was odd to find himself gasping for air, and be looking wildly around the room. "The dead do not dream," he mumbled, trying to regulate his breathing again.

Of course, he knew he wasn't dead anymore, and now he was very much a human again. The nightmares were very real. He took a deep breath, lay back against the pillow, and stared up at the ceiling. "The dead do not experience fear," he mumbled.

A shadow appeared in the doorway of the room, and he picked his head up to see what it was. It was Stan. It was beyond Kai as to why Stan kept his hat on, even while he was asleep, and at this moment, the hat was clutched in his fist. "Kai, you okay man?" he asked, half-asleep.

Xev appeared next to Stan, pulling her lizard-skin top on straight. "I heard you scream," she said.

Kai nodded. "Yes. Go back to sleep," he said.

Stan nodded, and stumbled back to bed without much question. Xev on the other hand crossed the room and sat down next to him. She looked down at him, and stroked his hair. "Are you sure you're all right?" she asked sweetly. "I could stay with you, if you'd like,"

Kai fixed his eyes on her, and shook his head. "I am fine, Xev," he said. "You do not have to stay. The dead do not find need for company,"

She smiled, and leaned over him, her hair falling around his head. "I don't think you mean that," she said silkily.

He looked up dispassionately. "I do not say things I do not mean, Xev," he said.

He could see a slight frown marring on Xev's face, as she sat up. "You know, for someone who's been brought back to life after six-thousand years, you don't seem that much different. You're the same as you always were,"

"I can only be what I am, Xev," said Kai, sitting up and propping himself up on his hands.

"And that would be?" she asked bitterly.

"I do not know," said Kai. "That is one thing I must figure out on my own. It has nothing to do with you,"

Xev sighed, knowing that he was telling the truth. That was one thing she could always depend on with Kai; the fact that there was never any deception with him. He always told it as it was, no matter how dark or dangerous something may be. Sure, he never gave any more information than he had to, but that was only because of how you asked a question. Now he was looking back at her with questioning eyes, and she couldn't help smiling at him. She knew she couldn't be angry with him, since it wasn't his fault that he was so cold all the time, after all, he'd been dead for so long, it wasn't unlikely that he'd forgotten how to function like a living person. "I'm sorry, Kai," she said softly. "I'll let you get back to sleep,"

She stood up and kissed him on the forehead. "I know I shouldn't be so forward, but if you have any more bad dreams, don't feel bad about waking me up, okay?"

"I will keep that in mind, Xev," said Kai.

After she left, sleep still evaded him, and his sheets were soaked with blood from his shoulder. He sighed, and got up, ripping a little more off his sleeve in small strips, and put his hair back up in the traditional Brunen-G style, an action that confused him, yet he did anyway. He wandered around the new Lexx for a while, finding the cryochamber with ease, and thankfully, a protein regenerator.

He started the machine easilly, and hooked himself into it, relaxing a little as the machine healed the deep wound. He stepped up to the middle pod, where he used to reside, and ran his fingers down the frosty glass. "Guess I won't be sleeping here anymore," he thought.

Ever since he woke up in that regeneration tube, he felt old and tired. Every part of his body felt so heavy, and he couldn't explain the guilt he was feeling for all the murder he'd committed in the past. It was as if he was in constant rewind, and trying to move forward as his memories drew him back. The cold permeating through him he knew was not from the pods at all, but it had been inside him since he'd been revitalized. His body was alive, but from the very beginning, he felt completely soulless.

Footsteps brought him out of his thoughts. "Still seems like home?" the voice asked playfully.

Kai forced a smile. "Spent a lot of time down here," he said. "It's a habit,"

Xev looked at the cryopod. "I know.... before we landed and found you, I used to come down here a lot," she said.

Kai looked at her questioningly. "Why for?" he asked.

"...Guess I was hoping to find you sleeping as usual," said Xev. "You being destroyed didn't really register with me, I guess,"

Kai leaned against the cryopod and looked down. "I was not completely destroyed, otherwise I would not be here now,"

"You sound so sad," she said, coming around the pod. "Are you okay? You did sleep way past morning,"

'"I suppose time has no meaning when you've forgotten how many hours are in a day," said Kai.

She put her hand on his arm gently, looking up at him with worry in her eyes. He hated to cause her distress, and now that he recognized it, it hurt even more. "Hm?

"You sure you're all right?"

"Yes...just many things I need to adjust to," said Kai, trying to stop thinking so much for once. "I take it that Stan and 790 have found a planet. You go back up to the bridge. I will catch up,"

"Oh, okay Kai," she said, the disappointment obvious to him. "I'll see you in a few minutes,"

He found himsefl climbing into a moth once again, as Stan told him that Vlad was missing, even though the moth they'd left her in was still there. She was probably off in some part of the ship that they didn't reside in, and Kai dismissed it, saying that she would turn up when she wanted to.

Xev was so excited about a green planet; she exited the moth before its legs even touched the ground. She immediately ran up to a patch of flowers and looked over them, smelled them, and picked one. She put it over her ear as Stan and Kai climbed out of the moth. "Oh yeah!" said Stan. "This looks promising. No carrots, no Prince, and no other things that wanna eat us!"

Xev smiled at Stan, and then looked to Kai. "So, what do you think, Kai?"

"I...do not think," said Kai, out of habit. "This place seems...suitable to your needs. So far, anyway,"

"_Our_ needs," she corrected.

Stan pushed between them and continued ahead. "Whatever," he said. "Let's go check this place out,"

Xev and Kai looked at Stan, then looked at each other, and decided to continue after him. Things really had changed while he was gone, Kai thought. It wasn't normal for Stan to explore a place before Xev without fear of it. "That is not wise, Stan," said Kai. "You may find-"

Before he could get the words out, a net sprung up underneath Stan, pulling him up into a tree. The security guard whined and squirmed, as several blonde people in pastel colored robes came out of the woods, carrying spears. Kai wasted no time in firing off his brace at the net first, to send Stan falling back toward the ground, and then aimed it at one of the attackers' spears. He grabbed it with the end of the weapon, and yanked it out of the man's grip. The planets' inhabitants looked at them, gawked for a moment, and ran off through the trees again.

Kai dropped the spear, and knelt down where Xev was checking over Stan. "Are you all right?" he asked systematically.

"No," said Stan. "That's it, I'm going back to the Lexx!"


	5. So Far, So Weird

Author's Notes: If Kai seems a little OOC at times in the next two chapters, you have to remember, even though I intend to keep him the same as he was for the most part, you gotta remember that he's trying to suppress acting human. If you haven't yet realized, the only person that he's somewhat open with is someone he trusts, and that is of course, Xev.

"Uh, no you're not!" said Xev. "We just got here! I wanna explore this planet a little further. We might not see one like this for a while anyway,"

Stanley turned to Kai with pleading eyes. "If you ask me to, I will return to the moth with you and take you back to the Lexx. However, I believe that the small part of me that is human wishes to stay. Then I will return here...leaving you alone...with Vlad,"

That was the key word there, _small_ part. None of him really felt human at all, but the unexplannable thoughts led him to believe that he was at least getting closer to it. As Stanley stumbled through the brush, trying desperately to keep up with his shipmates, he could have sworn he saw someone watching from the bushes, and quickly retreat.

Stan watched as Kai hoisted Xev up a steep rock wall, and climbed up himself. "You expect me to climb that?!" he called after them. "No way, pal!"

"What's the matter Stan?" Xev called down to him. "You did this on Fire, remember? It's not that much different. Not even that high!"

Stan sighed, and took hold of one of the rocks, and cautiously put one foot on a rock that stuck out. A second later, Kai lost his footing for a second, sending rubble down toward him. "I apologize," said Kai.

Stan stepped back. "That's it!" he said. "You guys go, I'll stay with the moth,"

"Kai!" said Xev, rolling her eyes.

The former assassin sped his climb up to the top of the wall, and straddled it. He shot his brace down toward Stan and caught him by the shoulder. One quick squeeze, and Stan felt himself touch down on the top of the wall, and immediately dropped to all fours. "But I thought you were human!" he whimpered.

"Not entirely," said Kai. "Part of me is still very much a Divine Assassin. However, my physical strength has decreased somewhat, along with my accuracy. I am still fully qualified to make life and death decisions, yet...I _do_ bleed,"

"Oh, okay, that's nice," Stan said sarcastically. "I'm happy for you,"

Xev stood on the top of the wall, not at all concerned with the narrowness, and walked along it. "Well, that wasn't so bad!" she said. "And look over there!"

Sure enough, there was a village beyond a grove of trees. Smoke was rising from the grass huts, and there were obviously people moving about. "Looks primitive," said Stan.

"Well let's find out!" said Xev.

She smiled, and jumped off the wall, paying no attention to the steepness. She looked back up expectantly, waving. Kai looked to Stan briefly, and leaned headfirst off the wall. He somersaulted in mid-air, and landed perfectly next to Xev. Stan rolled his eyes. Dead or alive, the dead stayed the same. Kai then shot his brace again, and yanked Stan down to the ground, making him land on his knees. "Okay, now that that's done, come on!" Xev persisted.

"Aw Xev, let's rest a while!" Stan panted from the ground. "C'mon Kai, aren't you tired?"

Xev didn't give him a chance to answer. "Okay Stan, we'll rest, but don't expect me to save you when the insects come out!"

The security guard immediately hopped to his feet, and ran ahead of her. "Come on guys!" he said.

The villagers were indeed primative. They stared either interestedly or fearfully at the crew, and backed away as they walked through. They seemed to be hunters, since there were some women in between two huts skinning some sort of animal. A small male came running up holding a staff of some sort. He seemed to be in his late teens or early twenties, and stuttered as he spoke. "Y-You h-have no bussiness here! We won't relent, we promised we wouldn't-"

"Whoa, slow down buddy!" said Stan, playfully tapping his fist on the guy's shoulder. "We don't wanna hurt ya. We're just visitors! Ya know, just checking the place out,"

He looked at Stan like the proverbial deer in the headlights, then to Xev, who waved pleasantly, and then to Kai. "But what about him?!" he said. "I know about his kind! Those Brunnen-G warriors destroyed this place thousands of years ago with their insect war! If it's happening again, leave us out of it!"

"There is no Insect War," said Kai. "I am Kai, Last of the Brunnen-G. My kind is no longer a threat to anyone,"

"L-last, what do you mean last?!" the teenager said unsteadily. "I thought the Brunnen-G simply moved to the Light Universe!"

"That is true," said Kai. "However, the knowledge you posess is outdated. All of my kind was killed thousands of years ago as well, including myself,"

The pale guy's face turned beet red, and he raised his staff as if to hit Kai. "Demon! Return to that from which you came!"

Xev grabbed the object in mid-swing, and put her arm protectively in front of Kai. "Hey!" she said. "Cool it. We don't want to hurt you, but if you try to fight us, then we'll have to,"

Stan scoffed. "Speak for yourselves!" he said.

"Grux!" an elderly male voice called out. "What is the meaning of this?"

The crew turned to see the hunting party return to the village from their trip, and their leader, apparantly a middle-aged man with gray hair and blue robes came forward. Grux put the staff down as Xev released it. "The visitors!" he said. "One of them's a-"

"A Brunnen-G, yes we know, we've already seen them," he said, turning to Kai. "I apologize for our assault outside these walls. We did not understand that warriors like yourselves were benign,"

"Hey, I'm not a warrior!" said Stan, holding out his hand to the elder. "I dunno about Xev, and Kai definitely is, but I'm just a captain. Stanley Tweedle, captain of the Lexx,"

The elder surprisingly shook his hand, and said, "My name is Selk. I will deal with you later, Grux. For now, I will retire to my hut with the visitors. I suggest that that you prepare an empty hut for our guests as well, and see to it that they will be comfortable or it's the pit for you,"

Inside Selk's hut, he hung up his club on the wall, and sat down on a mat. He motioned for the Lexx crew to do the same, which they did, without taking their eyes off him. "I apologize again for our mistake," said Selk. "We cannot be too careful in these parts. So, what brings you here to this blissfully nameless place?"

"We're looking for a home," said Xev, gesturing to her shipmates. "I'm Xev, and this is Kai, and Stanley. We come from the bug in the sky,"

Kai was interested in the fact that Xev seemed to have taken complete control of the Lexx since he was away. Stanley may have had the key, but everyone aboard knew that Stan wasn't exactly leader material. That left Xev, and she was so much stronger than she had been when Kai'd last seen her. She sat there now, not at all interested in the types of men running around, but staring straight into Selk's oddly unfocused eyes, and clutching one hand on the hilt of her sword. Kai found it a bit amusing, since there was so much technology in the universe, yet she chose to use something so primative to protect herself, and did it without batting an eyelash. It impressed him to no end. An unusal feeling, but he supposed that it had to be impression, since he was still turning the fact over in his mind.

Selk cleared his throat. "And such a pretty one you are, Xev," he said, reaching out to cup her chin.

Xev pulled away, her eyes slitting in distrust. "It may be your custom here to do that, but where we come from, that's very rude," she said bitterly.

Kai didn't feel himself do a double take as she shot her remark, and Selk chuckled. "Spirited too, always a good sign. Now come it is time for our end-of-day meal, and we wish for you three to join us. Won't you? I would be happy to answer any questions of yours then,"

Xev looked at him suspiciously. "Sure," she said blandly. "Come on Stan,"

She yanked their "captain" up off his rear, and out through the flap of the hut. Kai stayed behind. "Did you want something?" said Selk.

"Your subordinate, Grux, said something about the Brunnen-G. Is this planet what I think it is?"

Selk sighed, and turned away from him. "I knew that you would come to me with questions, yet I didn't anticipate it to be so soon. Bad manners, it is," he said.

"The dead do not have manners," said Kai.

"Yes, of course," said Selk, following Kai of the exit.

The food was as werid as it could possibly be. It consisted of blue fruits that exploded with purple juices the minute something sharp touched them, and a kind of over-cooked meat that Kai wanted to avoid entirely, since it was served on the table in the shape of an insect. Eating was something else he knew he had to do, yet couldn't get used to it. He remembered the experience from his first living existance, but now it seemed like a mind-numbing task, and best to do when it was absolutely necessary.

The young men around the huge table were either staring or falling all over themselves to talk to Xev, yet she just smiled pleasantly, and to Kai's surprise, politely turned down every invitation to bed that she received. That wasn't at all like the Xev he thought he knew. He turned to Stan, who was flirting with a pretty young woman sitting at the opposite of the end of the table with red hair that she kept in tiny dredlocks about her head. "Xev is not attempting to have sexual relations with the inhabitants here," Kai stated.

"Huh?" said Stan, tearing his eyes away from the girl. "Oh yeah, she's fine. Xev's been this way for a while now, she just sorta lost interest in having sex. Beats me, but hey, whatever works for her,"

"I believe you will be happy here," said Kai. "That woman appears to be...open-minded,"

Stan laughed excitedly, waving to the redhead. "Yeah, don't I know it!" he said. "Hey, what about you, anything strike your fancy here, dead man?"

Kai stood up. "I do not know,"

As the ex-assassin left the table and wandered off into the woods, Selk got up from his place at the head of the table and sat down in Kai's empty seat. "Hello," he said. "Stan, isn't it?"

"Yeah, what's up, Selk?" said Stan.

"I'm curious," said Selk. "About this thing you call the Lexx. What is it exactly?"

"Oh, it's just a big bug that flies around, eats things, blows up planets. Ya know, every now and then you gotta feed it so it don't die on ya, but you know, standard destructive ship," said Stan.

"I see," Selk said quietly. "And you're the captain. How does it do such things?"

Stan looked at him apprehensively. "Why would you wanna know that?" he asked, holding his right hand tentatively.

Selk laughed. "Oh, don't you worry. We're a very primative race here. We enjoy our way of life, and have no reason to destroy planets. We're just curious. We've never had visitors like yourself, and such things are important to make a recording of in history,"

"Oh, I get it! You probably just wanna remember us," Stan replied brightly. "Okay. The Lexx is controlled by a key, that I have in my hand. It's some kinda energy thing that jumps into whoever it wants, but there's only one,"

A loud, subhuman screeching sound came tearing out of the woods, making all of the birds flutter out of the trees. The villagers all either ran toward their huts to safety, or headed into the woods themselves. "What was that?!" said Xev.

"The enemy," said Selk, running with his club in hand. "Come on!"

"Kai," said Xev, following after him.

"Forget that, you guys can-" Stan began, heading toward the safety of a nearby hut.

An arm grabbed him, and stopped him. He whirled around to come face to face with the red-headed woman. She was holding a spear, and smiled pleasantly at him. "Don't you wanna get into the fight?" she asked.

"Uh...will you protect me?" Stan slurred.

"Sure," said the woman. "I'm Riona,"


	6. Hate and Lies

Riona grabbed Stan by the hand, and yanked him down a path behind Xev and Selk. They watched as Xev yanked her blade out up ahead of them, and chopped an insect in half as if she were hitting a flying baseball. "They're here, Stan!" she said.

"They've always been here!" said Selk, taking one out with his mace. "The Infected always has been tormenting us. Your dark friend is in danger. Come,"

Stan stuck close to Riona, watching as she speared them on the end of her weapon. He could get past the fact that she was a strong woman, in fact it was turning him on. "So," he said. "Do you like me, Riona?"

She giggled, watching as the blood spurted out of her latest victim. "Sure I do," she said. "You're cute,"

"Hey, you're cute too. You wanna...have a little fun with Captain Stan a little later? Ya know, when the crisis is over?"

"That'd be nice," said Riona.

"Stan, look out!" Xev called.

A particularly large spider-insect leapt out of a tree and landed on his head. It suddenly fell dead, and the brace retracted, with Kai on the end of it. Some insect muck had spattered him as well, but he was in one piece, as Xev hugged him quickly. "Good work, Kai!" she said.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," said Stan.

Kai turned to Selk. "You still have not answered my question," he said.

"When we return to the village, then I will. Now is not a good time, and this is a bad place," said Selk.

The hut that they had been supplied with was small, only two rooms, so that Xev had a room to herself, while the guys had to bunk together. She had offered to Kai yet again that he could stay with her, but he declined as always. Speaking of whom, he'd been gone since the little run-in with the bugs in the woods. Kai and Selk had gone into the large hut in the center of the village, and it had been hours since she'd last seen him. It wasn't that she was worried, yet when he wasn't around she still felt a bit unprotected in a strange place.

She got up off her bed, and headed into the front room, hoping to see that Stan was awake, or better, find Kai sleeping with his head on the table where he'd decided to stay, since it was either that or to share a single sleeping mat with Stan.

Xev smiled. He'd returned, and Kai was staring out the window. She couldn't understand what it was he knew about the skies that she didn't but wherever they seemed to go, he never rested, just stared up into the sky. "Hey," she said. "Aren't you tired?"

"The dead do not tire," said Kai. "And...you already informed me that I slept half the day,"

She laughed. At least he knew he was actually human now. "Are you still worried about what Selk said about your people?" she asked. "About how they destroyed this place once before,"

Kai looked almost apologetic as he nodded slightly. "It is true. The name of this planet is 7XZ. During the Insect Wars, the Brunnen-G were reluctant to fight near their own planet, so many battles were fought here. Thousands died, many of them innocent inhabitants," he said. "The leftover insects bred with the native ones here, and the result are the creatures that we fought with tonight. Selk has informed me that they still thrive here because of one being known as the Infected. The information about such a being is locked in that library hut underground, where only certain individuals can go. The only information that I have been given about the Infected is that it survives by absorbing any kind of energy,"

"Then why didn't you say anything before?" said Xev. "You had know where we were,"

"I did not," said Kai. "Having never seen the planet, I would not have been able to spot it. Selk and his peers have brought to my attention yet another flaw that I may have despised as a living man on Brunnis-2,"

In Xev's eyes, something was obviously wrong. She hoped that Kai was just coming to terms with everything that was slowly returning him to a human state, yet his words held some sort of remorse. They'd all relived the last moments of Kai's people, and how they weren't the great warriors they had been when they fought the war. She could plainly see that in life, Kai wasn't exactly pleased with parts of his heritage. That was seemingly coming back to him. He'd never had the ability to hate anything for as long as she'd known him. Now she could see he was grappling with his sub-concious not to.

The real question was, on the other hand, was for her to either comfort him, or to leave him alone. Xev was having a bit of angst herself on this subject. Of course he was having problems of sorts as he re-learned to be human, but she still hadn't forgotten what had happened before he'd gone off to die. _He_ kissed _her_, right? If he had really meant that, then there was no reason to be thinking so much about what she should do, but then again, maybe the confusion inside him was too much for him to really consider any kind of relationship with her. She didn't want to force herself on him, but she really didn't like seeing him so troubled. Xev took a deep breath, and took a few wary steps toward him.

His back was still turned, so it was easy for her to wrap her arms around his middle, and rest her chin on his shoulder. He didn't pull away or return the embrace, which Xev figured was normal for him. It didn't bother her at all. "Hey," she said. "None of that is your fault. Just because your ancestors did a horrible thing doesn't mean everything they did was bad. If anything, you repented for everything they did when you killed His Shadow,"

"...Thank you, Xev," he said quietly. "But I must leave now. There is something I must resolve,"

"I get it," said Xev, trying to mask the dissapointment in her voice as he pulled away. "You wanna go to their library which is off-limits. You can't get in without getting killed, so...you need someone who's experienced,"

She went over to her sleeping mat and strapped her sword to her back. "Come on, let's go. Just don't wake Stan,"

"I cannot allow you to come," said Kai. "You may be killed,"

Xev scoffed and headed out the door in front of him. "Have you forgotten who's been getting rid of the little insect problem while you were gone? I'm not scared of a few men who might have tied up my sweaty aching body and tried to kill me in the past,"

Kai followed after her, knowing that trying to dissuade her would only cause more problems. He followed as she marched right up to the largest hut in the village, grabbed a torch suspended from the outer walls, and circled around the back. He was intrigued to find that something as primitive would have a back door to a room that led nowhere but down. The door wasn't held shut by rope and wood, but surprisingly enough, a control panel with several numbers on it. "We cannot enter through here. It requires a code," said Kai. "Allow me,"

He held up his brace, ready to break the lock, but Xev simply handed him the torch and stepped up to the controls. "The dead do not think things over either," she said. "Let me,"

"How?" he asked.

"You honestly think that I wouldn't have taught myself what I needed to know to survive without a live-in assassin? It's just like when 790 opened those bank machines on Earth," said Xev, smiling confidently.

"You choice of activities in the past have been...questionable,"

"_Past_ activities," said Xev.

Kai stood stoically as she keyed in a complicated combination that was seemingly confusing the machine. Then it dawned on him. Where was 790? He found it a bit odd when he first entered the Lexx that he didn't see the pathetic machine zooming around the bridge on its transporter. "Where is 790?" he asked.

"As he would put it," said Xev, as the door suddenly slid open. "Don't know, don't care,"

She looked at him with a sweet smile, and gestured through the door. "After you," she said.

Stan tossed and turned on his sleeping mat. This place looked nice, but he didn't trust Selk at all, since he had such an interest in the key. There was no way he was falling asleep, especially, he had no clue as to where Kai and Xev were going, or as to why. He figured it was to work out six-thousand years of frustration, and he wanted absolutely no part of that. Some images were better kept out of the mind.

The little Riona woman seemed sweet enough, but she'd promised over an hour ago to meet with him, and now he was having hias doubts. It had been three months, and now that Kai was back, there was no chance on Fire that Xev would ever consider getting with him. Vlad was another option of course, but he figured that she would sooner cut off Little Stan and nail it to the ceiling when they found her rather than give him a chance at satisfying her new bodily desires. Besides, he was supposed to hate her. He shouldn't be analyzing her body. He should be more worried about being all by himself, in the dark, and on a strange planet!

"Hey, Stanley!" someone whispered sharply. "Are you awake?"

Stan sat up and smiled mischivously as Riona looked at him through the paneless window, wearing a low-cut white dress. "Hey, I am now!" said Stan.

"Well come on!" said Riona. "I need you now. I thought maybe we could be a little more...animalistic,"

Stan pulled on his hat and hurred out the door. Kai and Xev wouldn't notice when they came back, anyway. Kai rarely noticed anything that didn't seem malevolent, and Xev could be genuinely oblivious when her mind was taken over by her love slave side. They wouldn't miss him if he participated in a little sexual activity himself.

Riona led him into the woods, holding his hand and smiling naughtily at everything he said. They arrived at a clearing, and stopped. She kissed him quickly on the nose, and then backed away from him. "What's this for?" he asked.

"Isn't it kinky?" Riona asked. "Now close your eyes,"

"Ooh, okay," said Stan, shivering slightly. "Now, come on, what are you gonna do?"

"This," said Riona.

He didn't see it coming but when it did, he felt something slam him hard in the head, and all conciousness left him. His body made a thump as he hit the ground, and Grux stepped out of the shadows. "What took you so long?!" said Riona. "I thought I was going to actually have sex with him,"

"Sorry," said Grux. "Wanted to see how far you'd go,"

She slapped him across the face. "Come on, we gotta get him to Selk now. We need that energy,"

Xev paced around the poorly-lit library chamber, as Kai looked over the yellowing texts. One thing she hadn't taught herself to do yet was read alien texts. Becoming self-contained was a long road, anyway. "Find anything yet?" she asked impatiently.

"Yes," said Kai, shutting one of the books. "The Infected is a human, infected by the toxins produced from the insects stingers. It has grown large over the millenia, and the villagers here feed its enduring hunger with any kind of man-made energy they can find, in turn the Infected leaves this village alone, yet allows its spwan to feed in the forest around this place. Three priests perform a ceremony at the edge of the Infected's hiding place, and should one of the three die at any time, the remaining will lose their powers and have to die as well so three new ones can be selected. If the creature's needs are not fufilled, then this creature will consume everything around it, including the flesh of these people. All this..because of my ancestors,"

"You don't mean-"

"Yes," said Kai. "I recommend that we return to Stanley now, and leave this place as soon as possible. The key must not be given to the Infected, or it could mean the end of this Dark Universe as well,"

Selk looked over the human on the stone alter, over looking a deep pit. Stan lay on it, inaudably muttering in his unconciousness. Riona and Grux stood at Selk's sides. Grux took a knife, and cut Stan's arm the slightest bit. He winced, and then Riona took a vile of green liquid. She held up his right hand, and poured the chemical into the wound. Stan shuddered, and Selk held out a mirror. The key came flowing forth from Stan's palm, and bounced off the mirror, heading nowhere, but down to the pit. A loud screech came from the depths of the pit again, and the rustling of the insects could be heard throughout the woods.

The village elder smiled, seeing that his work was complete, until Riona and Grux suddenly dropped to the ground, bloody gaping holes in their torsos. Kai and Xev came forth out of the trees, Kai with his weapon raised. "I request that you return Stanley to us now," he said.

"Take him," said Selk. "It has been done. Now the Infected can rest another day,"

"The key is no longer with Stan?" said Kai.

Selk shook his head. "The insects on this planet are coming to feed, and the Infected is happy with that. As long as we feed him with energy, then our village has nothing to worry about. But you...you have killed these poor children,"

"They have endangered Stan's life," said Kai.

"We must apologize for this, but now that they are dead, I have no reason to continue. Without three priests to perform an energy transfer, the remaining one loses his power. Three new ones must be selected." said Selk, with Grux's knife raised.

"Selk, no!" said Xev, but no avail.

The knife made contact with Selk's sternum, and he was dead in a matter of seconds. Kai knelt, and yanked the weapon from the elder's chest. The ex-assassin re-holstered his brace, and looked over the side of the pit as he slid the knife into his belt. There were steep stone stairs leading down to the bottom. "Xev," he said. "Return to the moth with Stan and wait for me,"

"But where are you going?!" she said. "You heard Selk, the insects are coming to feed on the animals in this forest, we gotta leave now!"

"We will leave," said Kai. "But first, I must retrieve the key from the Infected,"

"Kai, let's do this in daylight hours when it's safe. You don't have to go down there now," Xev begged.

"Yes I do," said Kai. "Tomorrow morning, they will find that their elder is dead. They will believe that we killed him. It is best we leave when none are awake. I trust you to leave without me should I not return in an hour,"


	7. Into The Darkness

Author's Notes: Sorry for the tediousness here, but I had to build up reasons to lead up to this point. I thouroughly apolgize for parts that seemed unclear to you, but here's where I hope it counts!

Kai came to the end to the dark staircase, and found himself in a stone maze. He couldn't see very well in the dark anymore, another human setback, yet he continued forward. He had to get that key back, and the only way he could think of, was to find the Infected, and not get killed in the process. He walked at a slowed pace, since he had no idea as to where the thing might come at him. A few times, he swore he could have felt it brush past him, but the limited lighting only gave him the only option to keep going until he bumped into it.

He knew he was probably making all the same mistakes he had made when he'd fought with Vlad, but did he really have a choice? Part of him wished that the Infected would just stop playing with him, as he knew it was, and get on with trying to surprise him. He didn't so much mind the darkness, but the smell of dead flesh was starting to make him sick. How anomalous to feel nauseous again.

He got his wish however, when a huge claw came across his chest, and slammed him backwards through the air, and onto the ground. He looked up as the Infected crawled into the poor light. It had a human head, with rotting gray skin and hair, and bulging orange orbs practically hanging from their eyes sockets. Instead of a mouth, it had pinchers like a praying mantis, and instead of arms, it had several huge claws attached to a thorax. To complete the horrible disfiguration, it had two humanoid legs, yet it stood a decent three feet taller than Kai. He immediately scrambled to his feet, and backed away slightly.

He went to fire his brace into the Infected's face, but it grabbed his arm, squeezing the muscle in a way that the brace was useless unless the monster were to let go. Kai immediately went to plan B and yanked the knife out of his belt that he'd taken out of Selk's chest, and went for the Infected's throat, but it grabbed that arm too and snapped it like a burnt twig.

It then released him, and Kai fell to the dirt with a thud, crawling backwards to avoid the creature's stinger. He didn't remember if this had happened to him before he died at the hand of His Divine Shadow, but now the sparks of pain flying up his forearm and into his entire body were as vivid as ever. He couldn't do this anymore, not as well, at least. How could he protect Stan and Xev when he couldn't even protect himself? His body was now just as weak as anyone else's.

"Kai, come on!" Stan's voice echoed in his head. "Get back up here!"

He ducked a swing from the monster's claw. Apparantly, it knew why he was there, because it would simply try to eat him alive on any other occasion. Right now it was simply trying to kill him. He was sure he was going crazy now, that he was hearing voices in his head. "Kai, if you get your head ripped off, you're not gonna be able to put it back on!" the voices echoed again, this time the voice being Xev.

Kai fired his brace; it latched to a stone, and was pulling him up toward an open crevice in the wall He nearly climbed onto it, but a huge hand grabbed his ankle, and pulled him back down with ease. Kai clawed at the ground, but even in death he wouldn't have been strong enough to get away.

He fell back in the hole, his head and back slapping against the dirt. He couldn't help but scream a little as his broken limb made contact with the hard ground. Utterly useless, he cradled it in his other arm, and tried to peel himself off the ground.

He finally managed to stand with three decent limbs, and fired his brace, slicing one of the mutated human's many legs off, and staggered further into the cavern, hoping to find a decent hiding place until he could get himself into a state of tolerance from the unfamilliar feeling of having his arm broken for the first time.

He ran further into the pit, hoping that backtracking a little would buy him enough time to surprise the creature, and sure enough the monster was too blind with rage and pain to follow him accurately. Kai pressed his back to a stone shaped somewhat like a pillar, and quickly loosened one of the straps left on his chest, sliding his damaged arm into it. He then tightened the strap, solving his minor problem for the time being. Then he listened for the raspy breathing of the Infected. Sure enough, he could feel it, right behind him.

The monster headed toward his left, so Kai turned around the pillar right. He picked up a stone that he'd nearly tripped over, and threw it over the Infected's head. The creature screeched, and turned in Kai's direction. Kai took this as his chance, and fired his brace into one of the creature's eyes, hitting his target at such close range.

The brace retracted however, when the creature took this equal oppurtunity to slam him into a nearby wall.

It was scuttling toward him, ready to clip his head off no doubt with it's clws, but it suddenly stopped. The Infected screamed as a red illumination pierced its thorax, and squirmed. Kai took this as his chance to fire his brace, and the Infected's human head dropped to the dirt, rolling like a wooden ball. The body of the monster thrashed, injuring his rescuer in the process. The key came shooting out of the hole, and into the palm of his hand. For some reason, it didn't feel good at all as it passed into him. It felt as if a knife had just penetrated his palm, but he just shook it off, since the pain in his arm was worse.

Vlad stood behind the body, holding an energy weapon (A/N think the thing Xev was carrying in Bad Carrot). and turned her weapon off, as the body stopped twitching. She had done some modifying to her female version of the containment suit from the base, since she'd ripped off all the straps except the ones going down the middle of her top and her skirt. She'd also ripped the shoulder sections of her sleeves off, so they became gloves. She must have used the remaining material to put her hair back up like he did, since it once again stood up off her head. Funny, he thought, how the both of them had done such a thing. "A life for a life," Vlad said coldly. "Don't grow used to it, assassin,"

She then held out her hand, and helped him up. Her skin was colder than anything he'd ever felt before, yet his ability to determine life or death hadn't been lost. She was very much alive, and he could feel her pulse clear as ever. He wondered if she could feel the same from him. That would at least mean he was real, as she seemed to be. "How did you-" he began, still cradling his arm as the pain shot through him.

She hesitated, and then stopped as she readjusted the weapon. "I...forsaw it," she said quietly.

"But-"

"Can you still lift us to the top?" she interrupted sharply. " It would be more efficient that way rather than to use the stairs again, considering that the entire forest is crawling with insects. I cannot carry you up the wall, and even if I could I would not have the patience"

Kai looked at his brace. "Yes," he said. "I believe so,"

She said nothing, but made sure the hose of the weapon was secure about her, came around behind him, and slung her arms around her neck, making sure to avoid the broken limb best she could as he held it close to his chest. "Your idiot humans await us. I have already freed them," she said. "They have returned to the ship. My moth waits for us,"

"How do I know that you are not lying?" said Kai. "It was not so long ago that you tried to destroy me,"

Vlad glowered at him. "Had I wanted to destroy you, I would not have spared you. I have nowhere to go, and if I did, I have no desire to stay on this infected rock. My only way out is your flying insect. Now carry us to the top before the insects smell the blood,"

A bit surprised, he fired the brace, and carried them up toward the ground. He turned her words over in his head a few times, wondering if she really was trustworthy in this situation. Vlad was recently suicidal, and she had already killed Xev and enslaved Stan before. She _was_ incapable of enslaving anyone ever again, but she'd already proven that she could kill without remorse. He had never forgiven her for the first time she'd killed Xev. If she did it again, Kai wasn't exactly sure of how he'd react, but he was a little afraid of what he might to do her.

As the brace reached the end of the cable, Vlad climbed up between his shoulders and the wall like a spider, and then knelt to offer her hand to him. She effortlessly pulled him out of the hole, and the moth waited right outside for them, just as she'd promised. Kai knew she had been bluffing when she said that she couldn't lift him. He'd already seen that she was just as strong as he was back at the military annex. "See?" she said coldly. "The dead do not lie,"

"Often," Kai corrected. "The dead do not lie often,"

As she climbed into the moth, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "True," she agreed.

As Vlad had promised, they arrived back at the Lexx, and Stan and Xev waited on the bridge. Stan's forehead was bruised where the natives had bludgened him, and Xev had a few minor scratches, but they were obviously in better shape than he was. Vlad mutely helped him out of the moth, and sat him down on the step between the command pedastal and the bridge, or more likely, he collapsed from exhaustion, happy to see that they had the sense to bring the protein regenerator onto the bridge. "Hey!" said Stan. "You're still alive!"

"Forget something?" said Kai. "Hold up your hand,"

Stan complied, and Kai closed his eyes. It wasn't as hard to pass the key as everyone made it out to be, and he was quite relieved to be rid of it. He didn't want to command the Lexx, and never had the desire to. He'd brought enough death on humanity. Even though Xev constantly complained, Stan really was a suitable captain, because he normally had no violent tendencies unless something threatened him or Xev.

Stan drew his hand back as the last of the energy passed to him, and said, "Wait a sec, how did you-"

"The pain is enough for me to trick my mind into thinking I am at the point of death," Kai replied frankly.

Xev looked down, and realized that Kai was supporting his left arm, which hung limp." Your arm!" said Xev, in disbelief, as he staggered into a sitting position on the bridge.

She went to touch it, and bring it toward her. She could see it had snapped cleanly in three places, and Kai's face was as white as it could possibly be from the pain. He took a few deep breaths, and said, "You'll have to straighten it,"

"I couldn't-" she began.

"Please Xev, it will only hurt for a moment, and you are the only one strong enough to do so," he said in aggravation. "It hurts more this way, trust me!"

She'd never heard him talk that way to anyone, even when someone would wake him up the wrong way and he turned into His Shadow's assassin again, he never spoke so aggresively. "Okay," she said.

She tentatively grabbed his arm in one hand, and pushed the bone back into place with a loud crack. He didn't make a sound, but she could see he wasn't ready for it at all. She set the other places, and then hooked him up to the regenerator.

Vlad, who was gently massaging a cut on her neck from the smaller insects, sat far away from them, quiet, and sulking. She looked appalled at her companions, and kept her eyes to the floor. "I hope you know," she said quietly. "That even though I spared your life, I still have no intetion of ever being part of your crew,"

Kai nodded as Stan knelt in front of her and looked her over. "What?" she said harshly. "Your unpleasant desire for me to bite your neck is-"

"No, not this time, no," Stan said kindly, trying to pry her hand away from her wound. "It's about your neck, this time,"

"It's nothing!" she said quickly. "Tend to those who-"

"I saw it, Vlad," said Stan. "You're hurt too,"

Without warning, he dragged her over, and hooked her into the machine next to Kai, and she looked at him with a sort of blank wonder in her eyes. She lightly touched the spot where Stan had applied the suction cup, her eyes almost reflecting gratititude. "You owe me nothing," said Vlad. "If Kai and I are ever restored to our former selves, I expect that our death match will resume,"

"Though it is doubtful, I accept your challenge, Vlad," Kai said darkly.

Xev's cluster lizard side became apparent as she growled through gritted teeth, her eyes shooting daggers at the other woman. "Now for the big questions," said Xev, standing up, holding a rag to a slash on her arm as she waited her turn. "Where did you find that weapon?"

"Deep inside this forsaken insect," said Vlad. "It was the only one available,"

"You said that you forsaw my being defeated by the Infected," said Kai. "Do you mean-"

Vlad suddenly ripped herself free of the regenerator, and stormed off the bridge down the passageway. Kai followed suit, even though his arm was still a little tender.

"Oh boy," said Stan, as Kai dissapeared down the passage. "Looks like we got a problem on our hands,"

"I know," Xev whispered anxiously.

Kai caught her by the shoulder before she dissapeared into the Lexx's maze-like passageways. "Stop trying to touch me!" Vlad snapped, pulling away. "I hate that,"

"Why the sudden urge to leave?" he said, as she whirled around. "If you are hiding anything important from us...I will kill you, Vlad,"

Kai squeezed his wrist and the weapon came sliding into his hand, which he pointed at her throat. "Of course," she said. "Kill me like the murderer you are...like we both are. Then again, I already know that you could never do it. You no longer have it in you. Remorse has settled in and has made you weak,"

"You as well," he said, staring straight into her lifeless eyes.

She seemed to contemplate with herself for a few seconds, and then decided that if he really intended to kill her, that it would be better for her to simply tell him the truth. She knew the truth would hurt him in some way, and there was certainly pleasure in seeing him suffer."You do remember when I told you how I got to that planet Earth?" she said.

"You asked the Time Prophet, before you killed her. You located a bruise in the time-space fabric that separated the two universes, and ended up on Earth," Kai said systematically.

"You really are blind, assassin. You cannot see lies when they are right in front of you. I did not kill her," said Vlad.

"The Time Prophet lives?" Kai asked. "I do not understand,"

"You're looking right at her, yet you cannot even see her," said Vlad. "How like a Divine Assassin to be so obtuse,"

"But how is that possible?" Kai asked suspiciously. "You cannot be the same person,"

"I have no obligation to answer any of your questions further, assassin," Vlad said venomously "You think a hunter like me is going to bend to your will? That is not what is! You are still prey to me, and I refuse to help you again. Should you see me again, it is best that you kill me quickly...if you even can,"


	8. How It Has To Be

Author's Notes: After this chapter, I dunno if I should leave it here or continue with it further. See what you guys think. There are supposed to be differences with this whole atmosphere, such as Vlad taking the place of 790, Kai being alive, and Xev becoming more of a stronger female type than a sex kitten, but I'm still trying to stay true to the Lexx rules.

It was odd to Xev, to see Kai leaning against one of the many growths in the cavity after the passageway ended, being careful of his newly revitalized arm, and staring into space. The Infected had knocked him around some, since a few large bruises were visible, and she hated it, considering in the old days that it wouldn't have even been possible to injure him, and he would have immediately closed up. . "Hey," she said.

"Hello, Xev," said Kai.

"Where'd Vlad go?" she asked.

"She ran off again, I allowed her to. It is wise that we keep our distance from her in the future,"

Xev nodded in agreement, not knowing that the information that Kai had just been given was eating at him for the moment. He couldn't understand it, but the Time Prophet had always been someone he had respectful memories of. Now that he knew that the same person had tried to kill him, he wasn't quite sure of what it was, whether it was anger at His Shadow for condemming another innocent life to living death, or if it was at Vlad herself.

"You should be in bed," said Xev, knocking the thoughts right out of his mind. "So you can recover all the way,"

"I do not wish to be confined anywhere, a bed most of all," said Kai. "I've had enough of lying down,"

Then it dawned on her. "Hmm, I guess you would. I almost forgot about how you spent most of your time in a cryopod,"

She circled around the growth and stood next to him. "So...how's your arm?" she asked, at a loss for any real conversation.

For some reason, it had been much easier to talk to him when he was dead. She supposed it was because he had no emotions then, and now, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, she could still see coming back to life after being reduced to a particle the size of a pea was still on his mind. It must have been hard, she thought, to be on this plane of existence again, after moving on to the next life.

He looked down at the limb, somewhat distastefully and said, "I am ninety percent healed," he said systematically. "It will take time, however,"

"That's good," said Xev. "Must be uncomfortable, having all those fibers in the bone fusing back together,"

"I can still fight, seeing that my weapon is located on my right arm," said Kai.

"That's not what I mean," said Xev. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you,...how'd you sleep last night?"

"It is not sleeping that's difficult," said Kai. "Waking up is the hard part,"

"I'd guess so...you did wake up in a glass box, with scientists pressing their ugly faces in on you," she said uncomfortably.

They sat there a while, silent and uncomfortable, and then Xev took a deep breath, and crossed her arms. Stan had sent her in there for a reason, and for once, she agreed that this was a good reason.

"What is with you, Kai?" Xev asked, looking at him questioningly. "First going down to that hole alone, where you knew that energy-absorbing insect was, and then asking me to leave you after an hour? It's not like you to get beaten up like that!"

"Your lives were in danger," said Kai. "Yours and Stanley's. Your lives are more important than mine,"

"Don't you want to live?" said Xev.

"The dead do not want," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"...Are you looking for a place to die?" she asked.

"I am already dead," he said.

Xev came up to him and slapped him lightly across the face, and then grabbed his shoulders. "No, you're not! You're alive again! Doesn't that make you happy? Doesn't a second chance mean anything to you?"

He pulled away. "I died the day His Shadow's dagger went through my body. As for being happy, that was when I knew that I would finally be destroyed for good," he said, turning his back from her. "I did not want to live this life again,"

Tears welled up in Xev's eyes, and started flowing down her cheeks, but she didn't cease to continue her agitated interrogation. "But why? Don't you want to be here with us?" she asked. "With me?"

"I killed thousands of people, Xev," said Kai. "That's all I ever did. Given my history, _you_ shouldn't want to be here with _me_. You have no idea what it's like, to never be able to die. I was denied an afterlife. I was forced to be a bringer of death, and when I finally took hold of the afterlife, I was pulled back out of it,"

"...You mean, you knew where you were after you died?" Xev whispered.

"No," said Kai, doing his best to not make eye contact with her. "I'm not sure where, but all I know is that my conciousness was somewhere, and I no longer had to kill. I was pulled out of that in a matter of seconds,"

Xev had to sit down, and plopped down on one of the smaller growths. Now she knew why Kai had been more distant than usual, and why he was now searching for a way to die. He'd been in a good place, the afterlife that everyone hoped for, and now he was stuck in what he probably considered a pergatory. "...Did it hurt?" she said, as he sat down on the bridge next to her.

"Yes," he said simply, sitting down next to her.

"Were you on Water, at least?" she said, not thinking about the question.

"No," said Kai. "Otherwise I would not have remembered you or Stan, or anything else for that matter. Besides...Water was destroyed,"

"Oh," she said speechlessly. "Kai...I'm so sorry,"

Her words were barely more than a whisper. She didn't want him to feel this way, let alone die. The thought of unimaginable pain he went through in the process of being rejuvenated made the whole idea worse. "There is nothing for you to apologize for," said Kai. "It was not your choice or within your knowledge to revive me,"

They sat there for a minute or two, in complete silence. He hadn't been ready for her to suddenly press her mouth to his, but as spontaeneous as the action was, he enjoyed feeling her tounge probe into his mouth. He found himself wrap his good arm around her waist, until she suddenly pulled back, causing him to do the same. Her eyes were quite wide, and she looked remorseful. "I'm sorry!" she said quickly. "I shouldn't have-"

Kai looked straight into her eyes this time, feeling an odd mix of dissapointment containing the thought that he knew it would only hurt her were he to get too involved with her. "It's all right," he said. "Programming can sometimes be...difficult to control,"

Xev looked down at her boots. "I really am sorry, Kai," she said sadly.

"...I am as well," he said.

They stood there for another three minutes, contemplating what had just happened. Xev was sorry, even though it felt good at the moment. She could tell that he wasn't at all ready for anything relating to closely to any human being, but the love slave in her had pushed her to do it, and even though she regretted it, part of her wanted more of it.

Kai, on the other hand, was still trying to understand why his body had reacted the way it did. He supposed that was what a good feeling was supposed to be, but he found that he didn't want to feel good. He couldn't reciprocate affection in death, and he figured that trying to do so in life would only cause more problems for the both of them. He wasn't even sure he knew the difference between love, hate, anger, confusion, or any other emotion. All he knew was that they seemed to be assaulting him at the same time, and he had to keep them pinned down and as far away as possible, because if he didn't, then he'd no longer be able to do what he'd been doing for Stan and Xev since he'd known them. He had to kill, otherwise, they might be killed.

Xev suddenly turned to him and said, "So is this how things are going to be from now on?"

"...Yes," said Kai. "I believe so,"


End file.
